Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Prosecutorial Puzzler Answered

b. Heads of state who've been prosecuted, other than Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir, are:(1)Charles Taylor (above left), indicted by the Special Court for Sierra Leone while he was the sitting President of Liberia. The Court, sitting specially at The Hague, is trying him now. Yesterday Chief Prosecutor Stephen Rapp said "that the case was in its fifth month of hearing the prosecution’s evidence, and could possibly wrap up 'within a year.'" (photo credit)(2) Slobodan Milosevic (right), indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia while he was the incumbent President of Serbia. He was put on trial for genocide and other offenses, but died before any verdict could be rendered.(3)Jean Kambanda (left), former Prime Minister of Rwanda. His 1998 plea of guilty to genocide, crimes against humanity, and related offense marked the 1st conviction of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.(4)Karl Dönitz (right). Though best known as Nazi Germany's top naval officer, Dönitz served as President for the 23 days after Adolf Hitler committed suicide and before the end of World War II in Europe. The International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg convicted him of crimes against peace -- known today as aggression -- and crimes against humanity; he served 10 years in prison, then lived in Germany till his death by heart attack in 1980.